2 part Discussion Question for these stories. | Homework Helper

I’m working on a English exercise and need support.

Part 1 . Im going attach the files

Using Herr’s “Breathing In,” and using Chapter 15 of “On Closer Examination,” please answer these questions: What is the central conflict? Which side–if any–does the text seem to favor? What’s your evidence? How might others interpret the evidence differently? What’s your opinion of the text? (Questions are also on p. 192).

Part 2

Using the book Hillbilly Elegy Book by J. D. Vance

Toward the end of Chapter 5, we’re told about an intense and pivotal moment in Vance’s life. After some build up, he is in a car with his his emotionally volatile mother and she threatens to kill him. Scared, he runs away from her and ends up at a stranger’s house; thanks to the quick thinking of that stranger, the police arrest his mother.

Yet during the court hearing for his mother’s case, Mamaw tells Vance to tell the judge that his mother never threatened him. By lying to the judge, Vance will keep his mother out of jail. He does this, and his mother is freed.

Why does Vance feel so dedicated to his mother? She tried to kill him, and it seems like he was genuinely afraid for his life, yet he says the words to set her free. Or does Vance do this reluctantly, and only because Mamaw told him to lie? And do you see any connection between this incident and Mamaw teaching him to fight? Did Mamaw let her grandson down at a crucial moment, or is Vance’s willingness to lie so his mother won’t go to jail just another example of hillbilly values and placing family above all? Be sure to use examples from the text to support your answer.